September 14, 2018

Case Study 6: Powdered brows or hair strokes?

A question that I get very often is: What’s better....hair strokes or powdered?....and my answer is, IT DEPENDS

When you’re faced with a client that has little to no existing eyebrows, your technique should lean towards realism to create an effect that won’t appear flat. This way, your client has options and can add her own powder on top for extra definition to achieve that bolder brow but can still have a super-natural look for daytime that doesn’t scream “tattooed eyebrows”.

Tara had virtually no existing hair, fair skin and has a casual lifestyle. She wears minimal make which I don’t blame her since she had such radiant skin! She wanted eyebrows with a super-natural, undetectable look.

After talking to her, I knew that a defined or powered brow would look too flat and makeup-like. Together, we decided to go for a mid-tone with natural texture while still maintaining the look of loose realistic hair strokes. While I agree that a powder brow is more on trend now, it will not have the dimension that is created by having the look of hair strokes.

Remember, once you tattoo a solid powdered brow, you cannot go backward and add hair strokes or dimension. Your client will be committed to a “flat”, one-dimensional look for a long time.

Here I layered 2 colors with Microblading for that illusion of texture. I went through the entire eyebrow with MEDIUM BROWN first then added a few touches of BOLD BROWN strokes in between to give the design more contrast. You’re probably wondering if you can do this and the answer is “yes”! In art, you’re only limited by your imagination to create what you visualize.

The great thing about using 2 colors is that the contrast between the two colors creates instant dimension, making the difference between her eyebrow and a real hair eyebrow almost indecipherable. To execute this properly, always make sure to choose a dark value color for the contrast color.